WESTWOOD—A second suspect responsible for the murder of two USC grad students has been convicted. Javier Bolden, 22, of Los Angeles, was convicted by a jury of 12 on Monday, October 27 in the 2012 fatal shootings of Ming Qu and Ying Wu.
Both Qu and Wu are students from China who were engineering majors killed during a botched robbery on April 11, 2012.
Both students, who were 23, were shot on the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue. According to a press release from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Bolden was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
He was also convicted of one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in a separate incident that occurred on February 12, 2012 that resulted in the death of Deionce Davance.
The jury also found all special circumstances and special allegations to be true which means Bolden and his accomplice could be eligible for the death penalty for the crimes they committed. Bolden could face up to life in prison without parole when he is sentenced by Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus on November 17.
Bryan Barnes, 21, a second suspect in the case was sentenced in February 2014 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his involvement in the crime. He pleaded to the two murders and acknowledged that he was the person who pulled the trigger.
Both Barnes and Bolden were charged with one count each of attempted murder after shooting Timothy Hall at a South Los Angeles party on December 3, 2011.
